Apparatus and methods for managing delivery of content in a network with limited bandwidth using pre-caching

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for managing provision of content to devices in a content delivery network. In one exemplary embodiment, content with a high probability of viewership is sent to consumer premises equipment (CPE) during off-peak periods and stored prior to viewing. An application is utilized to manage decisions related to content provision. The computer program will identify content that is likely to be of interest users associated with respective CPE, and schedule provision of that content in advance of viewing. Then, the system will develop a plan for optimal scheduling of transmission of content to CPEs, often including the use of trickle downloads. The scheduling plan is based collected statistical and historical data on network resource demand to make scheduling decisions. The system allows for the shifting of bandwidth utilization from periods of high demand to those of low demand, and increased performance with regard to user experienced latency.

PRIORITY AND RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims priority to co-owned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/429,240 of the same title filed on Mar.23, 2012, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,978,079 on Mar. 10, 2015, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application isrelated to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/800,093filed May 4, 2007 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PREDICTIVECAPACITY ALLOCATION”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/012,019 filedJan. 30, 2008 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PREDICTIVEDELIVERY OF CONTENT OVER A NETWORK”, and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/582,619 filed Oct. 20, 2009 and entitled “GATEWAY APPARATUS ANDMETHODS FOR DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY IN A NETWORK”, each of theforegoing being incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates generally to the field of data and contentdelivery. In one exemplary aspect, the invention relates to themanagement of bandwidth utilization on a content delivery network.

2. Description of Related Technology

One significant competitive challenge presently faced by operators ofcontent delivery networks relates to managing and conserving bandwidth.This includes the reclamation of otherwise under-utilized or unusedbandwidth, such that the service or customer base can be expandedwithout significant modifications or build-outs of the underlyingnetwork infrastructure. For example, it is desirable to expand the typesand availability of “next-generation” network services, includinghigh-definition (HD) broadcast, VOD, high-speed data (HSD), VoIP,Interactive TV, IP-based services to mobile devices, etc. over time,without the need for major capital expenditures or system modifications.Hence, network operators are increasingly focused on techniques for“squeezing” as much capacity out of their existing networks as possible.

In a conventional content delivery network (such as e.g., a cablenetwork), bandwidth planning and usage tends to be relatively staticover time. A network operator periodically changes the channel line-upto delete channels, add new channels and services, or change therelationship between logical channel map and frequency domain locationof the channels. Channel line-up changes are done typically a few timesa year to meet the engineering and business needs, and resourcesavailable in the network. Thus, channels available in the network stayrelatively static when compared to the frequency with which subscriberstune in and out of various program channels.

Typically, a tradeoff must be made between allocating bandwidth toprograms currently carried on the network to meet or exceed theirquality requirements, yet at the same time keeping sufficient bandwidthin reserve to be made available to new program requests, or suddenchanges in available network bandwidth resources (e.g., equipmentfailure).

With the availability of new technologies such as high definition (HD)programming and streaming technologies to provide users withindividualized content, network operators are facing a bandwidth“crunch” of sorts, and have started looking at delivery methods on theircontent networks to optimally utilized bandwidth. One such technologycomprises a “switched” network architecture (commonly referred to asswitched digital broadcast (SDB), or broadcast switched architecture(BSA)), described in greater detail subsequently herein. In such anetwork, individualized program delivery can be provided to eachsubscriber (or small groups of subscribers).

Moreover, network operators may face changes in demand that fluctuateaccording to the time of day, week, month or year. These cycles canresult in significant periods of both over- and under-utilization ofnetwork resources. For example, during peak hours subscriber demand forcontent may reach or exceed the capacity of the network. Thus,undesirable situations may arise in which subscriber requests forprograms or other services may be rejected because of capacity limits.Conversely, during off-peak hours network capacity is significantlyunderutilized. Thus, this network capacity, which often represents asignificant capital investment by the service provider, is notcontributing to revenue generation or customer experience enhancement.

Therefore, there is a need for new techniques that facilitate moreconstant network usage in lieu of systems that promote periods of highdemand followed by periods of low demand. These new techniques shouldideally both reduce demand during peak times and increase demand duringoff-peak periods. In addition, any such technique should ideally becapable of being integrated with existing network infrastructure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides, inter alia, apparatus and methods formanaging delivery of content in a network with limited bandwidth.

In a first aspect of the invention, a method of operating a contentdelivery network is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes:identifying high probability of viewership (HpoV) content; andscheduling transmission of said HpoV content to said one or more CPEduring an expected period of low network demand. The transmissioncomprises a transmission rate less than that associated with a real-timepresentation of said HpoV content.

In another embodiment, the method includes: identifying high probabilityof viewership (HpoV) content; and scheduling transmission of said HpoVcontent to said one or more network users during one or more expectedperiods of low network demand, the transmission comprising transmissionto a caching entity substantially proximate to one or more CPE ofrespective ones of said one or more users within a topology of saidnetwork.

In a second aspect of the invention, a method of delivering highprobability of viewership (HpoV) content over a network having atopology is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes:transmitting said HpoV content to one or more network users during oneor more expected periods of low network demand, said transmissioncomprising transmission to a caching entity disposed at or near an edgeof said topology of said network; and selectively increasing a rate ofsaid transmission at least in part in response to at least one of saidusers initiating a presentation of said HpoV content at a client device.

In a third aspect of the invention, an apparatus for the management anddistribution of content in a content delivery network is disclosed. Inone embodiment, the apparatus includes: at least one interface tocommunicate with a plurality of CPE operatively coupled to said network;one or more storage apparatus configured to store: a plurality ofcontent for distribution to subsets of said plurality of CPE; one ormore rules guiding the distribution of individual ones of said pluralitycontent; and classification information related to said individual onesof said plurality said content; and a processing unit in datacommunication with the interface and the one or more storage apparatus.In one variant, the processing unit is configured to: based at least inpart on said classification information, identify individual ones ofsaid plurality of content that are HpoV content for a subset of saidplurality of CPE; identify rules guiding the distribution of said HpoVcontent among said rules guiding the distribution of said individualones of said plurality said content; and schedule transmission of one ormore of (i) said HpoV content and (ii) said rules guiding presentationof said HpoV content to said subset of said plurality of CPE.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer readable medium isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the computer readable medium comprises aplurality of instructions which are configured to, when executed selectand download via an efficient downstream mechanism content that has ahigh probability of use by a subscriber of a network. In one variant,the network comprises a managed network such as a cable, satellite,optical fiber, or HFCu network. In another variant, the networkcomprises an unmanaged network such as the Internet.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, a user device configured for usingcached content is disclosed. In one embodiment, the user devicecomprises a consumer premised device such as a set-top box, DVR,satellite receiver, etc. In another variant, the user device comprises amobile wireless device with, e.g., a cellular and/or WLAN air interface.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, an edge/near-edge caching device isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the device includes a mass storage devicecapable of storing pre-cached content for delivery to a user. In onevariant, the device is disposed at the user's premises. In anothervariant, the device includes transcoding/transrating capability to adaptthe cached content for use on various user premises or mobile device.

In a sixth aspect of the invention, a network architecture is disclosed.In one embodiment, the architecture includes a supervisory process andan edge/near-edge cache apparatus, the process being used to selectcontent for particular users/CPE, and in communication with the edgecache for delivering the selected content in advance of the userrequesting it, and via a non-bandwidth limiting mechanism.

These and other aspects of the invention shall become apparent whenconsidered in light of the disclosure provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary hybridfiber/coax (HFC) cable network configuration useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1a is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary HFCcable network headend configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary localservice node configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1c is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarybroadcast switched architecture (BSA) network useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1d is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarypacketized content delivery network architecture useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of a HFC network for providing content to a plurality ofconsumer premises equipment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary contentmanagement device for use in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary clientdevice for use in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method formanaging the provision of content to a plurality of devices associatedwith a service group according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a logical flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of themethod for identifying high probability of viewership content for aplurality of devices associated with a service group according to thepresent invention.

All Figures © Copyright 2011-2012 Time Warner Cable, Inc. All rightsreserved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer tolike parts throughout.

As used herein, the term “application” refers generally to a unit ofexecutable software that implements a certain functionality or theme.The themes of applications vary broadly across any number of disciplinesand functions (such as on-demand content management, e-commercetransactions, brokerage transactions, home entertainment, calculatoretc.), and one application may have more than one theme. The unit ofexecutable software generally runs in a predetermined environment; forexample, the unit could comprise a downloadable Java Xlet™ that runswithin the JavaTV™ environment.

As used herein, the terms “client device” and “end user device” include,but are not limited to, set-top boxes (e.g., DSTBs), gateways, modems,personal computers (PCs), and minicomputers, whether desktop, laptop, orotherwise, and mobile devices such as handheld computers, PDAs, personalmedia devices (PMDs), tablets, and smartphones.

As used herein, the term “codec” refers to a video, audio, or other datacoding and/or decoding algorithm, process or apparatus including,without limitation, those of the MPEG (e.g., MPEG-1, MPEG-2,MPEG-4/H.264, etc.), Real (RealVideo, etc.), AC-3 (audio), DiVX,XViD/ViDX, Windows Media Video (e.g., WMV 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11), ATI Videocodec, or VC-1 (SMPTE standard 421M) families.

As used herein, the term “computer program” or “software” is meant toinclude any sequence or human or machine cognizable steps which performa function. Such program may be rendered in virtually any programminglanguage or environment including, for example, C/C++, Fortran, COBOL,PASCAL, assembly language, markup languages (e.g., HTML, SGML, XML,VoXML), and the like, as well as object-oriented environments such asthe Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java™ (includingJ2ME, Java Beans, etc.), Binary Runtime Environment (e.g., BREW), andthe like.

The terms “Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE)” and “host device” referwithout limitation to any type of electronic equipment located within aconsumer's or user's premises and connected to a network. The term “hostdevice” includes terminal devices that have access to digital televisioncontent via a satellite, cable, or terrestrial network. The host devicefunctionality may be integrated into a digital television (DTV) set. Theterm “consumer premises equipment” (CPE) includes such electronicequipment such as set-top boxes, televisions, Digital Video Recorders(DVR), gateway storage devices (Furnace), and ITV Personal Computers.

As used herein, the term “DOCSIS” refers to any of the existing orplanned variants of the Data Over Cable Services InterfaceSpecification, including for example DOCSIS versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and3.0.

As used herein, the term “headend” refers generally to a networkedsystem controlled by an operator (e.g., an MSO or multiple systemsoperator) that distributes programming to MSO clientele using clientdevices. Such programming may include literally any informationsource/receiver including, inter alia, free-to-air TV channels, pay TVchannels, interactive TV, and the Internet.

As used herein, the terms “Internet” and “internet” are usedinterchangeably to refer to inter-networks including, withoutlimitation, the Internet.

As used herein, the term “memory” includes any type of integratedcircuit or other storage device adapted for storing digital dataincluding, without limitation, ROM. PROM, EEPROM, DRAM, SDRAM, DDR/2SDRAM, EDO/FPMS, RLDRAM, SRAM, “flash” memory (e.g., NAND/NOR), andPSRAM.

As used herein, the terms “microprocessor” and “digital processor” aremeant generally to include all types of digital processing devicesincluding, without limitation, digital signal processors (DSPs), reducedinstruction set computers (RISC), general-purpose (CISC) processors,microprocessors, gate arrays (e.g., FPGAs), PLDs, reconfigurablecomputer fabrics (RCFs), array processors, secure microprocessors, andapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Such digitalprocessors may be contained on a single unitary IC die, or distributedacross multiple components.

As used herein, the terms “MSO” or “multiple systems operator” referwithout limitation to a cable, fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to thecurb (FTTC), satellite, Hybrid Fiber Copper (HFCu), or terrestrialnetwork provider having infrastructure required to deliver servicesincluding programming and data over those mediums.

As used herein, the terms “network” and “bearer network” refer generallyto any type of telecommunications or data network including, withoutlimitation, hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks, HFCu networks, satellitenetworks, telco networks, and data networks (including MANs, WANs, LANs,WLANs, internets, and intranets). Such networks or portions thereof mayutilize any one or more different topologies (e.g., ring, bus, star,loop, etc.), transmission media (e.g., wired/RF cable, RF wireless,millimeter wave, optical, etc.) and/or communications or networkingprotocols.

As used herein, the term “network interface” refers to any signal, data,or software interface with a component, network or process including,without limitation, those of the FireWire (e.g., FW400, FW800, etc.),USB (e.g., USB2), Ethernet (e.g., 10/100, 10/100/1000 (GigabitEthernet), 10-Gig-E, etc.), MoCA, Coaxsys (e.g., TVnet™), radiofrequency tuner (e.g., in-band or OOB, cable modem, etc.), Wi-Fi(802.11), WiMAX (802.16), PAN (e.g., 802.15), or IrDA families.

As used herein, the term “node” refers to any functional entityassociated with a network, such as for example an OLT or ONU, whetherphysically discrete or distributed across multiple locations.

As used herein, the term “QAM” refers to modulation schemes used forsending signals over cable networks. Such modulation scheme might useany constellation level (e.g. QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, etc.)depending on details of a cable network. A QAM may also refer to aphysical channel modulated according to the schemes.

As used herein, the term “server” refers to any computerized component,system or entity regardless of form which is adapted to provide data,files, applications, content, or other services to one or more otherdevices or entities on a computer network.

As used herein, the term “service”, “content”, “program” and “stream”are sometimes used synonymously to refer to a sequence of packetizeddata that is provided in what a subscriber may perceive as a service. A“service” (or “content”, or “stream”) in the former, specialized sensemay correspond to different types of services in the latter,non-technical sense. For example, a “service” in the specialized sensemay correspond to, among others, video broadcast, audio-only broadcast,pay-per-view, or video-on-demand. The perceivable content provided onsuch a “service” may be live, pre-recorded, delimited in time,undelimited in time, or of other descriptions. In some cases, a“service” in the specialized sense may correspond to what a subscriberwould perceive as a “channel” in traditional broadcast television.

As used herein, the term “service group” refers to either a group ofservice users (e.g. subscribers), or the resources shared by them in theform of for example entire cable RF signal, only the RF channels used toreceive the service or otherwise treated as a single logical unit by thenetwork for resource assignment.

As used herein, the term “wireless” means any wireless signal, data,communication, or other interface including without limitation Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, 3G (3GPP/3GPP2), HSDPA/HSUPA, TDMA, CDMA (e.g., IS-95A,WCDMA, etc.), FHSS, DSSS, GSM, PAN/802.15, WiMAX (802.16), 802.20,narrowband/FDMA, OFDM, PCS/DCS, LTE/LTE-A, analog cellular, CDPD,satellite systems, millimeter wave or microwave systems, acoustic, andinfrared (i.e., IrDA).

Overview

In one salient aspect of the present invention, the provision of content(e.g., non-linear content such as on-demand content) is shifted tooff-peak periods using a pre-caching technique. In one exemplaryembodiment, content with a high probability of viewership (hereinafter“HpoV”) is sent to specific CPE during off-peak periods, and storedprior to viewing. Because the content is stored locally at the CPE, theuser associated with the CPE can experience low-latency viewing of thecontent without the performance degradation associated with transmissionand processing. Moreover, this experience can be achieved usingsignificantly less bandwidth than that which may be associated withnormal delivery of the content. Thus, a low-bandwidth transmission (suchas e.g., a “trickle” download) can be used.

In some embodiments, a supervisory process (e.g., computer program orapplication) is utilized to manage decisions related to contentprovision. The computer program identifies content that is likely to beof interest users associated with respective CPE, and schedule provisionof that content in advance of viewing. The exemplary implementation ofthe application bases its decisions on classification informationprovided with the content. This information can include, inter alia, (i)the subject matter of the content, (ii) a list of other related content,and (iii) demographic or psychographic information associated with thecontent. The application then compares the classification information todata associated with one or more individual CPE. The informationassociated with the CPE can include, inter alia, (i) user requests, (ii)user history, (iii) user preferences or interests, and/or (iv)subscriber demographic or psychographic information.

The system may be used to deliver content provided through the MSO(multiple systems operator), or may be in the delivery of over-the-top(OTT) content. In some embodiments, a playlist, queue, or other requestlist from an OTT content provider (e.g. Netflix®, Hulu®, or HBO Gp®) isused to identify HpoV content for pre-caching. In some variants, the MSOworks in conjunction with the OTT provider to pre-cache the OTT content.

The system develops a plan for optimal scheduling of transmission ofcontent to CPEs (including the use of trickle downloads during off-peakperiods) based on the foregoing analysis. The scheduling plan usescollected statistical and historical data on network resource demand tomake scheduling decisions. Thus, the system is able to effectivelypredict the periods in which scheduling the download to the user's CPEwill have the least impact on network performance. Furthermore, shouldan unforeseeable spike in network demand arise, these “trickle”downloads can be interrupted and/or rescheduled, because they do notcorrespond to requests for live viewing of content.

In addition, the scheduling of the provision of content may account forthe time that a particular download may take. This approach ensures thatthe trickle download completes prior to the user initiating apresentation of the content. The foregoing exemplary embodiments providea number of different benefits and advantages, including inter alia: (i)shifting bandwidth utilization from periods of high demand to those oflow demand, thereby significantly “flattening” the demand profile, (ii)increased performance with regard to user experience latency, and (iii)enhanced system performance through the expansion of storage rather thanuse of instantaneous bandwidth.

In some embodiments, measures to ensure proper controls of thepre-cached content, encryption and/or digital rights management toolsmay be used.

Further, the content may be provisioned in an incomplete orsubstantially incomplete form. For example, the pre-cached media mayselectively omit portions (e.g., every other bit) of a particulardigitally-encoded content element. In this case, even if other contentprotect schemes fail, the content is none-the-less rendered uselessuntil the complementary (removed) bits are provided.

Embodiments pre-caching content at network edge devices (“edge caching”)and at peer CPE devices (P2P) are also disclosed.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

Exemplary embodiments of the apparatus and methods of the presentinvention are now described in detail. While these exemplary embodimentsare described in the context of the aforementioned hybrid fiber/coax(HFC) cable system architecture having an multiple systems operator(MSO), digital networking capability, IP delivery capability, andplurality of client devices/CPE, the general principles and advantagesof the invention may be extended to other types of networks andarchitectures, whether broadband, narrowband, wired or wireless, orotherwise, the following therefore being merely exemplary in nature.

It will also be appreciated that while described generally in thecontext of a consumer (i.e., home) end user domain, the presentinvention may be readily adapted to other types of environments (e.g.,commercial/enterprise, government/military, etc.) as well. Myriad otherapplications are possible.

It is further noted that while exemplary embodiments are describedprimarily in the context of a hybrid fiber/conductor (e.g., cable)system with legacy 6 MHz RF channels, the present invention isapplicable to literally any network topology or paradigm, and anyfrequency/bandwidth. Furthermore, as referenced above, the invention isin no way limited to traditional cable system frequencies (i.e., below 1GHz), and in fact may be used with systems that operate above 1 GHz bandin center frequency or bandwidth, to include without limitationso-called ultra-wideband systems.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will immediatelybe recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art with reference tothe attached drawings and detailed description of exemplary embodimentsas given below.

Network

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical content delivery network configuration withwhich the apparatus and methods of the present invention may be used.The various components of the network 100 include (i) one or more dataand application origination points 102; (ii) one or more content sources103, (iii) one or more application distribution servers 104; (iv) one ormore VOD servers 105, and (v) customer premises equipment (CPE) 106. Thedistribution server(s) 104, VOD servers 105 and CPE(s) 106 are connectedvia a bearer (e.g., HFC) network 101. A simple architecture comprisingone of each of the aforementioned components 102, 104, 105, 106 is shownin FIG. 1 for simplicity, although it will be recognized that comparablearchitectures with multiple origination points, distribution servers,VOD servers, and/or CPE devices (as well as different networktopologies) may be utilized consistent with the invention. For example,the headend architecture of FIG. 1a (described in greater detail below)may be used.

The data/application origination point 102 comprises any medium thatallows data and/or applications (such as a VOD-based or “Watch TV”application) to be transferred to a distribution server 104. This caninclude for example a third party data source, application vendorwebsite, CD-ROM, external network interface, mass storage device (e.g.,RAID system), etc. Such transference may be automatic, initiated uponthe occurrence of one or more specified events (such as the receipt of arequest packet or ACK), performed manually, or accomplished in anynumber of other modes readily recognized by those of ordinary skill.

The application distribution server 104 comprises a computer systemwhere such applications can enter the network system. Distributionservers are well known in the networking arts, and accordingly notdescribed further herein.

The VOD server 105 comprises a computer system where on-demand contentcan be received from one or more of the aforementioned data sources 102and enter the network system. These servers may generate the contentlocally, or alternatively act as a gateway or intermediary from adistant source.

The CPE 106 includes any equipment in the “customers' premises” (orother locations, whether local or remote to the distribution server 104)that can be accessed by a distribution server 104.

Referring now to FIG. 1a , one exemplary embodiment of a headendarchitecture useful with the present invention is described. As shown inFIG. 1a , the headend architecture 150 comprises typical headendcomponents and services including billing module 152, subscribermanagement system (SMS) and CPE configuration management module 154,cable-modem termination system (CMTS) and 00B system 156, as well asLAN(s) 158, 160 placing the various components in data communicationwith one another. It will be appreciated that while a bar or bus LANtopology is illustrated, any number of other arrangements as previouslyreferenced (e.g., ring, star, etc.) may be used consistent with theinvention. It will also be appreciated that the headend configurationdepicted in FIG. 1a is high-level, conceptual architecture and that eachMSO may have multiple headends deployed using custom architectures.

The exemplary architecture 150 of FIG. 1a further includes amultiplexer-encrypter-modulator (MEM) 162 coupled to the HFC network 101adapted to process or condition content for transmission over thenetwork. The distribution servers 164 are coupled to the LAN 160, whichprovides access to the MEM 162 and network 101 via one or more fileservers 170. The VoD servers 105 are coupled to the LAN 160 as well,although other architectures may be employed (such as for example wherethe VoD servers are associated with a core switching device such as an802.3z Gigabit Ethernet device). As previously described, information iscarried across multiple channels. Thus, the headend must be adapted toacquire the information for the carried channels from various sources.Typically, the channels being delivered from the headend 150 to the CPE106 (“downstream”) are multiplexed together in the headend as previouslydescribed, and sent to neighborhood hubs (FIG. 1b ) via a variety ofinterposed network components.

It will also be recognized, however, that the multiplexing operation(s)need not necessarily occur at the headend 150 (e.g., in theaforementioned MEM 162). For example, in one variant, at least a portionof the multiplexing is conducted at a BSA switching node or hub (seediscussion of FIG. 1c provided subsequently herein). As yet anotheralternative, a multi-location or multi-stage approach can be used, suchas that described in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 11/048,334,entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MULTI-STAGE MULTIPLEXING IN ANETWORK” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, whichdiscloses inter alia improved multiplexing apparatus and methods thatallow such systems to dynamically compensate for content (e.g.,advertisements, promotions, or other programs) that is inserted at adownstream network node such as a local hub, as well as “feed back” and“feed forward” mechanisms for transferring information betweenmultiplexing stages.

Content (e.g., audio, video, data, files, etc.) is provided in eachdownstream (in-band) channel associated with the relevant service group.To communicate with the headend or intermediary node (e.g., hub server),the CPE 106 may use the out-of-band (OOB) or DOCSIS channels andassociated protocols. The OCAP 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 (and subsequent)specification provides for exemplary networking protocols bothdownstream and upstream, although the invention is in no way limited tothese approaches.

It will also be recognized that the multiple servers (broadcast, VoD, orotherwise) can be used, and disposed at two or more different locationsif desired, such as being part of different server “farms”. Thesemultiple servers can be used to feed one service group, or alternativelydifferent service groups. In a simple architecture, a single server isused to feed one or more service groups. In another variant, multipleservers located at the same location are used to feed one or moreservice groups. In yet another variant, multiple servers disposed atdifferent location are used to feed one or more service groups.

“Switched” Networks

FIG. 1c illustrates an exemplary configuration of a “switched” networkarchitecture (referenced above), which is also useful with the premisesgateway apparatus and features of the present invention.

Switching architectures allow improved efficiency of bandwidth use forordinary digital broadcast programs. Ideally, the subscriber is unawareof any difference between programs delivered using a switched networkand ordinary streaming broadcast delivery.

FIG. 1c shows the implementation details of one exemplary embodiment ofthis broadcast switched network architecture. Specifically, the headend150 contains switched broadcast control and media path functions 190,192; these element cooperating to control and feed, respectively,downstream or edge switching devices 194 at the hub site which are usedto selectively switch broadcast streams to various service groups. A BSAserver 196 is also disposed at the hub site, and implements functionsrelated to switching and bandwidth conservation (in conjunction with amanagement entity 198 disposed at the headend). An optical transportring 197 is utilized to distribute the dense wave-division multiplexed(DWDM) optical signals to each hub in an efficient fashion.

Co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/956,688filed Sep. 20, 2001 and entitled “Technique for Effectively ProvidingProgram Material in a Cable Television System”, incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, describes one exemplary broadcast switcheddigital architecture useful with the present invention, although it willbe recognized by those of ordinary skill that other approaches andarchitectures may be substituted.

In addition to “broadcast” content (e.g., video programming), thesystems of FIGS. 1a and 1c (and FIG. 1d , described below) also deliverInternet data services using the Internet protocol (IP), although otherprotocols and transport mechanisms of the type well known in the digitalcommunication art may be substituted. One exemplary delivery paradigmcomprises delivering MPEG-based video content, with the videotransported to user PCs (or IP-based STBs) over the aforementionedDOCSIS channels comprising MPEG (or other video codec such as H.264 orAVC) over IP over MPEG. That is, the higher layer MPEG-or other encodedcontent is encapsulated using an IP protocol, which then utilizes anMPEG packetization of the type well known in the art for delivery overthe RF channels. In this fashion, a parallel delivery mode to the normalbroadcast delivery exists; i.e., delivery of video content both overtraditional downstream QAMs to the tuner of the user's STB or otherreceiver device for viewing on the television, and also as packetized IPdata over the DOCSIS QAMs to the user's PC or other IP-enabled devicevia the user's cable modem.

Referring again to FIG. 1c , the IP packets associated with Internetservices are received by edge switch 194, and forwarded to the cablemodem termination system (CMTS) 199. The CMTS examines the packets, andforwards packets intended for the local network to the edge switch 194.Other packets are discarded or routed to another component.

The edge switch 194 forwards the packets receive from the CMTS 199 tothe QAM modulator 189, which transmits the packets on one or morephysical (QAM-modulated RF) channels to the CPE. The IP packets aretypically transmitted on RF channels that are different that the RFchannels used for the broadcast video and audio programming, althoughthis is not a requirement. The CPE 106 are each configured to monitorthe particular assigned RF channel (such as via a port or socketID/address, or other such mechanism) for IP packets intended for thesubscriber premises/address that they serve.

“Packetized” Networks

While the foregoing network architectures described herein can (and infact do) carry packetized content (e.g., IP over MPEG for high-speeddata or Internet TV, MPEG2 packet content over QAM for MPTS, etc.), theyare often not optimized for such delivery. Hence, in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention, a “packet optimized”delivery network is used for carriage of the packet content (e.g., IPTVcontent). FIG. 1d illustrates one exemplary implementation of such anetwork, in the context of a 3GPP IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) networkwith common control plane and service delivery platform (SDP), asdescribed in co-owned U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.61/256,903 filed on Oct. 30, 2009 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSFOR PACKETIZED CONTENT DELIVERY OVER A CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK,” whichis now U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/764,746 filed on Apr. 21,2010 of the same title, each of which is previously incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety. Such a network provides significantenhancements in terms of, inter alia, common control of differentservices, implementation and management of content delivery sessionsaccording to unicast or multicast models, etc.; however, it isappreciated that the various features of the present invention are in noway limited to any of the foregoing architectures.

Exemplary Pre-caching Architecture

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of a pre-cachingarchitecture 200 for providing content to a plurality of CPE 106 in aservice area according to the present invention is illustrated. Asnoted, while described herein in the context of a hybridized (i.e.,fiber and wireline conductor such as coaxial cable) extant networktopology such as that of FIGS. 1-1 d discussed above), the presentinvention is in no way so limited, and in fact may be utilized withinliterally any type of network or topology.

As discussed above, a typical hybridized network includes one or moredata and application origination points, one or more content sources,one or more application distribution servers, and one or more VODservers at a network headend. The distribution server(s), VOD servers,and content sources to a plurality of CPE connected via the bearer(e.g., HFC) network. The headend may also connect through a gateway orother such interface to unmanaged external internetworks such as theInternet.

The CPE within such networks may also be operatively coupled to one ormore user or client devices (e.g., wireless mobile devices, PCs,tablets, etc.) at the user premises. The user may wish to receive orview content obtained via the content delivery network on any of thesedevices.

The users associated with the plurality of CPE request content from thecontent server via the network. Then, assuming the CPE has proper accessprivileges, the content will provided over the network. Thus, theplurality of requesting CPE can have individualized content streamsprovided to them. However, during peak usage periods, such as thoseoften occurring from 7 pm to 11 pm in the evening within a given timezone, the provision of these individualized streams can consume all or asignificant portion of the available network resources.

To alleviate this condition, various implementations of the presentinvention utilize content management devices 206 placed on the headendand/or other content servers. The content management devices allow for,inter alia, the provision of non-linear content that is shifted tooff-peak periods using a pre-caching process. In one exemplaryembodiment, content with a high probability of viewership (HpoV) for agiven CPE is sent to that CPE, typically during an off-peak period, andstored prior to viewing. Thus, the user associated with the CPE canexperience the high performance associated with low latency contentinteraction given the local storage of the content. Moreover, as will bediscussed infra, this experience can be achieved using significantlyless bandwidth than that which may be associated with the bitrate of theencoding used for the content or the bandwidth associated with itsexecution. Thus, a low bandwidth transmission or “trickle” download canbe used. Furthermore, often increasing storage capacity is a moreeconomical option than increasing the instantaneous bandwidth capacityof the network. Because it facilitates the transfer of bandwidth usageto low demand periods, the present invention allows an MSO to improvethe general user experience through the increase of storage rather thanincreasing the instantaneous bandwidth capacity of the network.

It will be appreciated that while exemplary embodiments of the inventionare described herein with respect to local storage (i.e., storage of thetransmitted non-linear content on the user's premises, such as on a DVRor the like), the invention also contemplates use of more remotestorage, yet consistent with the intended goal of peak bandwidth usereduction. For instance, in one variant, the content is downloaded andstored at storage devices (not shown) disposed at local switching ordistribution hubs, the hubs being located at or near the edge of theoperator's distribution network. In this fashion, bandwidth limitations(such as those due to peak demand periods) occurring at or near the coreof the network—which are most typical—are effectively addressed, yet thecontent is still maintained within the operator's network (versus beingdisposed within the less controlled environment of the subscriber'spremises). This form of “edge caching” also advantageously does notrequire the subscriber's CPE to be operating to function, since thecontent is only streamed from the edge cache to the subscriber when theuser requests it.

In yet another variant, the content is downloaded and stored on astorage device of another subscriber or CPE (versus the targetsubscriber/CPE on which the HpoV analysis was based). In this fashion,the other subscriber's CPE acts as another “edge” repository. Exemplarymethods and apparatus for such peer caching are disclosed in co-ownedand co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/726,095 filed Mar.20, 2007 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT DELIVERY ANDREPLACEMENT IN A NETWORK”, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. The aforementioned application details techniques for edge ornear-edge peer-to-peer storage and transfer of content. The exemplarytechniques are used to facilitate the integration of such edgerepositories and offer the MSO or other network administrator moreflexibility in provisioning upstream/downstream bandwidth. However, itwould be recognized by those of ordinary skill given this disclosurethat other approaches and architectures may be substituted.

Exemplary Bandwidth Management Apparatus

Exemplary embodiments of the content management apparatus 206 shown inthe pre-caching architecture of FIG. 2, are now described in detail withrespect to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the content management apparatus (CMA) 206 generallyincludes a network interface 302, a processing unit 304, a storage unit314, and a number of interfaces for connection with external devices312. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the apparatus is designed foruse at the headend 150 of the content delivery network 100 of FIG. 1,and is in (indirect) communication with a plurality of CPE 106. Theprocessing unit runs several processes regarding the management anddistribution of content, as described in greater detail subsequentlyherein.

Applications 306 and 310 running at the apparatus 206 process newcontent, and extract any information related to the classification ofthe content and rules for the presentation and distribution of thecontent. This classification information may include data such as forexample: (i) type of content (e.g. movies, TV, music, applications,games, etc.) (ii) the subject matter of the content, (iii) genre of thecontent (iv) demographic information on a typical audience for thecontent, (v) suitability for different audiences (e.g. rating), (vi)total runtime/playtime, (vii) release date, (viii) author/creator, (ix)uploader (e.g. in the case of user produced content) and/or(x) lists ofother directly related content. For example, a movie which is a sequelto another might list its predecessor in the list of related content.

The rules related to the presentation and distribution may includeinstructions (potentially from the content source, or an agreementbinding the MSO) that detail: (i) if the content can be distributedprior to its initial scheduled broadcast or release, (ii) what types ofsecurity or DRM must be attached to the content, (iii) what types ofreformatting are allowed for the MSO and the end user, (iv) what clientdevices (e.g., types of devices) may display the content, and (v) whatlimitations on copying and/or distribution must be enforced. These rulescan then be implemented through tools such as flags, metadata, and/orencryption. Use of so-called “trusted domains” may also be employed toenforce one or more of the foregoing rules. Co-owned and co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/894,884 filed Jul. 20, 2004 and entitled“Technique for securely communicating and storing programming materialin a trusted domain” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/378,129filed Mar. 16, 2006 and entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR SECURELY COMMUNICATINGPROGRAMMING CONTENT” each of which being incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, describe exemplary methods and apparatus fordeploying such a trusted domain architecture; however, it will berecognized by those of ordinary skill that other approaches andarchitectures may be substituted.

The application responsible for extracting the classificationinformation 310 is utilized in this exemplary embodiment to managedecisions related to content provision. The computer program identifiescontent that is likely to be of interest users associated withrespective CPE, and schedule provision of that content. The computerprogram has access to both the classification information related to thecontent (described above), and corresponding information associated withthe individual ones of the plurality of CPE (or individual usersthereof). This corresponding information can include for example datasuch as: (i) express user requests (e.g. content queued or otherwiseidentified by the user as being content the user intends to view at alater time), (ii) user history, (iii) user preferences or interests(such as those expressed explicitly by a user, such as during accountcreation or subsequent surveys, and/or passive determinations based one.g., history of activity such as frequently watching the Golf Channel),(iv) geographic location and/or (v) demographic/psychographicinformation (i.e., knowledge of one or more persons attitudes, actions,behaviors, interests, etc.). The program will then analyze (e.g.,compare, or run other analytics on) these two sets of information toidentify HpoV content.

The exemplary embodiment of the content provision scheduling processtakes into account current network usage, and/or network usage cycles.Accordingly, this process (or another designated process) 308 mustcollect and organize data on network usage statistics. This collectionand organization can be achieved by adapting the apparatus to processsuch data, or supplying the statistical data from a separate system.With this data, the system produces a guide for expected network usage.Then, the system will develop a plan for optimal scheduling oftransmission of content to CPEs (including the use of trickle downloadsduring off-peak periods).

It will be appreciated that in certain embodiments of the invention, theaforementioned usage/cycle data can be gathered and processed asnecessary by another process or entity within the operator's network, oreven a third party, and fed to the management apparatus 206. Moreover,the management process 206 is not limited to using data that is specificto or derived from the operator's own network. For example, moregeneralized data regarding user behavior (such as from Nielsen or thelike), and/or data obtained from other network operators, may be usedconsistent with the invention for both (i) identifying HpoV content,and/or (ii) characterizing network usage and behavior (including peaksor spikes in demand). Additionally, speculative or predictive means ofassessing network usage and/or behavior may be used, such as thosediscussed in co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/800,093 previously incorporated by reference herein.

The storage unit 314 of the device is specifically configured tofacilitate the processing and management of the content, and theapplication of any rules such as those discussed above. In someembodiments, the content is stored on the apparatus 206 to facilitatedistribution to various associated CPE. In these configurations, thecapacity must be sufficient or capable of being expanded such thatnumerous HD content streams may be stored and processed fordistribution. In other embodiments with remote content storage, thestorage unit 314 capacity must be sufficient to allow the system todirect transfers from other servers. The storage system must also beconfigured such that any rules associated with any given content willremain associated after storage, including situations in which the rulesare provided or stored as a separate file or stored at a device remotefrom that which stores the content. It will be appreciated that in someembodiments, the storage unit 314 can comprise multiple modules forvarious tasks. For example, a faster RAM-disk type module could beincluded in the storage unit to facilitate faster paging operationsduring tasks such as video processing or content metadata generation. Itcan be envisioned that such a RAM-disk module in concert with massstorage modules for content storage tasks allow for expanded deviceflexibility.

In other embodiments, the content is stored remotely, and the apparatusthen directs transfer of the content to one or more target CPE.

In addition, the storage unit can also be configured to store theclassification information associated with the content and thecorresponding information associated with the individual ones of theplurality of CPE associated with the management apparatus. Storing suchinformation will facilitate the identification of HpoV content.

The content management apparatus 206 also supports a memory bank 315 tosupport application actively running thereon. Thus, the memoryrequirements of the various tasks (e.g. rule enforcement, videostreaming, direction of transfers, and content processing, etc.)performed by the content management apparatus 206 are fulfilled.

In some embodiments of the invention, some or all of the processingnecessary to identify HpoV content will be located at the CPE, asopposed to the CMA 206. Hence, the present invention contemplates: (i)all of the necessary HpoV/scheduling processing being performed at thenetwork side (e.g., the CMA); and (ii) a division of the aforementionedprocessing between the network side (e.g., CMA) and the CPE 106.

Referring now to FIG. 4 an exemplary CPE apparatus 106 having HpoVprocessing capability is shown. The processing capability can be e.g., amodule (e.g., dedicated processor) placed into a larger CPE, or it canoperate as a separate device, as will be readily appreciated by those ofordinary skill given the present disclosure.

This apparatus 106 generally includes a processing unit 404 with anumber of applications running thereon, a network interface 402, astorage unit 408, a memory unit 409, numerous interfaces or connections410 for connecting to the MSO's network (and various client deviceslocated on the premises, such as mobile devices, personal computers,DVRs, etc.)

The storage device 408 is configured to store any variety ofinformation/data for use by the apparatus 106, including content forpresentation, provide a buffer for live streams, and store rules guidingthe presentation of the content. In some cases, the storage unit isfurther configured to store classification information related toparticular content and information related to the one or more users ofthe CPE.

The memory unit 409, is configured to provide fast memory access for theapplication of rules, video processing, identification of HpoV content,or any number of programs or processes running on the CPE.

In operation, the CPE receives a list identifying content available forpresentation from the content server or other network entity. Thisinformation may also be pre-stored, such as from an earlier EPG fetch.The available content process 412 extracts information from this list,which can include the classification information discussed above. Theinformation can be used to generate e.g., a VOD availability list forpresentation to the user, and an EPG can be compiled from the data.Thus, the fetched information can serve multiple purposes and need notonly be envisaged in the context of identifying HpoV content.

The available content process 412 then passes the list of availablecontent and classification information to the HpoV contentidentification process (application) 413. The HpoV contentidentification application 413 then uses the list and classificationinformation to identify content that is likely to be consumed by the“CPE” (or specific users associated with the CPE). In this case, theHpoV content identification application must have access to informationrelated to the CPE's use (or in the case of user-specific profiling,information about specific ones of the CPE's associated users). Some ofthis information can be collected during the operation of the CPE. Forexample, the HpoV content identification application could direct thecollection of user requests and user history. Moreover, the applicationcould query the user for information related to user preferences ordemographic information.

The HpoV content selections can in another embodiment be tailored tospecific entities via selectable profiles associated with the CPE, auser (or multiple users), or other network entity. Co-owned andco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,554 filed Mar. 30,2009 and entitled “PERSONAL MEDIA CHANNEL APPARATUS AND METHODS” andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,576 filed Mar. 30, 2009 andentitled “RECOMMENDATION ENGINE APPARATUS AND METHODS”, each of whichbeing incorporated herein in their entirety, describe exemplaryembodiments of these specific entity profiles capable of use inpredicting interest in content. Thus, in some embodiments, it can beenvisaged, that a user may have multiple profiles for e.g., differenttimes of day or mood of the user. Additionally, profiles of users may beused to generate predictions of HpoV content for other users. Further,content may be immediately identified as HpoV content with theassumption that a certain user may want to “watch-along” with another.Such is often the case with children of the user. Alternatively, a usermay want to follow the viewing habits of a celebrity (movie/TVcelebrity, politician, journalist, business mogul, etc.) or otherinfluential public figure. Accordingly, HpoV content can be identifiedfrom the playlists/recommendations made for or by these celebrities.

The HpoV content identification application then directs the CPE tocontact the content server or other appropriate network entity toschedule transmission of the HpoV content. The list of available contentdiscussed above can include details about scheduling and mode oftransmission of the content, such as the earliest possible date and timefor transmission, or delivery modality restrictions. Thus, in someembodiments, the CPE will only request content when it is available fortransmission, and by only those modes detailed in the contentavailability list.

Alternatively, this information may not be included in the list. In thiscase, the CPE may request a type of transmission that is not allowed.For example, the CPE may request a trickle download in advance of thepresentation of particular content, but only a live stream may beallowed. Accordingly, the content management apparatus 206 associatedwith the content server will deny the request, and can suggest analternative method or time of transmission.

In addition, the management apparatus 206 can also deny such a requestin order to facilitate bandwidth management on the network. Ideally, theCPE 106 will request trickle downloads during periods of low networkresource demand. However, without detailed network usage statistics andhistory, it is not possible to fully identify all times of high networkdemand. Generally, updated or detailed forms of this information willnot be fully available to the CPE. Thus, the CPE may make requests atinappropriate times, even in the cases in which the CPE is running aprocess to identify such periods. Therefore, in the exemplaryembodiment, the management apparatus 206 running on the network musthave precedence in any transmission scheduling decision.

Notwithstanding, it will be appreciated that the CPE may in alternateembodiments of the invention be provided such updated and detailednetwork demand information if desired. In this fashion, the CPE acts ineffect as a remote or “edge CMA”, decentralizing the function of thenetwork-based CMA 206 so that individual CPE can more intelligentlymanage and select content delivery and downloads. This approach may alsobe selectively applied throughout the pool of CPE within the operator'snetwork, such that only certain CPE are so equipped. For instance,“thinner” CPE with less capability, or which have opted out of (or notopted into) acting as an edge CMA will in effect be “dumb” CPE, andreceive their downloads based entirely on network-based CMA 206instructions and scheduling. However, CPE with full processingcapability and access to network data as described above, and which areelected to act as edge CMA's, will schedule their own downloads and maketheir own determination of content availability. These edge CMA devicesmay in one variant act fully autonomous of other scheduling decisions orinformation generated by the network-based CMA 206, or alternatively inanother variant may coordinate with the network CMA 206 to ensure thatbroader network operational or bandwidth conservation rules are notbeing violated.

Methodology

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 500 for providingcontent in a network in accordance with the present invention. Asillustrated, per step 502, HpoV content is first identified. Theprocesses by which this identification can be achieved is discussed indetail later in this section.

Once the HpoV content is identified, the content server 201 is queriedas to the availability of HpoV content per step 504. Alternatively, atotal list of content available on the content server can be used tolimit the determination of HpoV content to those programs available onthe server. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a schedule setting forththe predicted time of availability of upcoming content can be provided.If the content is not or will not be available, the process willrecommence when another HpoV content identification is made.

Next, at step 506 of the method 500, it is determined if the time atwhich the HpoV is identified constitutes a period of peak or high demandfor network resources. If it is determined that the current period doesconstitute a high demand period, or some other reason arises for thepreservation of network resources, an off-peak provision of the contentwill be scheduled at step 508. Otherwise, the content is providedimmediately.

The foregoing scheduling process can occur in a number of ways. Forexample, the provision of the content can be scheduled based on aforeseeable reduction in demand for the resources of the network such aslate at night or early in the morning. Alternatively, such schedulingneed not be based on a specific time, but rather the occurrence of anevent, such as e.g., network usage or activity falling below a certainthreshold. As mentioned above, under one exemplary embodiment of theinvention, the content can be provided using less bandwidth that wouldbe required for live or streaming viewership (e.g., trickle download).Thus, the scheduling of the provision may also take into account thetime necessary to transmit the content using a trickle download whilestill ensuring that the transmission completes before the user is likelyto view the program.

Conversely, if network resources (bandwidth) have freed up sufficientlyduring schedule periods of download, a high-speed modality for downloadof the content may be used instead, such as that described in co-ownedand co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/013,665 filed Dec.15, 2004 and entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HIGH BANDWIDTH DATATRANSMISSION IN CONTENT-BASED NETWORKS” incorporated herein in itsentirety. Thus, the system uses protocols and bandwidth typicallyassociated with VOD sessions rather than lower speed modalities. Thetransfer can then reach completion during the period of plentifulnetwork resources prior to any return to a period of high networkdemand.

At step 512, the HpoV content is provided for pre-caching. The contentis stored locally at the CPE (or alternatively at another CPE, or anedge cache, as previously discussed), and the user will be able to enjoythe content with little or no further network usage. Thus, the systemwill have the added effect of being more robust against poor customerexperiences resulting from outages or overtaxed network resources, sincethe content uses little if any network infrastructure.

Furthermore, given that the provision of content occurs without activeviewership in the case of some exemplary implementations of theinvention, the transmission of the content can advantageously beinterrupted and/or rescheduled if demand for network resources peaksduring an unforeseeable period.

Per step 514, usage and copying rules are provided in addition to thecontent. These rules may be used to, among other things, enforce variousagreements among the content provider, the MSO, and the subscriber. Forexample, certain pre-cachable content may be made available forpre-caching in advance of its scheduled release or broadcast. Thus, thecontent can be in place for consumption the as soon as allowed per theaforementioned agreements. However, to avoid situations in which a useraccesses the content ahead of the agreed upon schedule, rules can be putin place. These rules may limit both the earliest time and the durationover which the content can be consumed, limit access to the content toonly previews or “trailers”, limit access to only portions of thecontent (e.g., audio only, video only), etc.

In addition, referring again to FIG. 2, the CPE 106 may be operativelycoupled (via e.g., wired or wireless link) to a number of client devicesin the user's possession, including PCs 108, TVs 110, tablet computers112, and smartphones 114. Thus, the user may wish to consume the contenton any number of these devices. However, viewing the content on thesedevices may require specific permission from the MSO or contentprovider. Therefore, the usage and copying rules can be set to governwhat devices the content can be viewed on, and permissions associatedwith the use of such content on such devices (e.g., no replication ortransfer from that device to another device, etc.).

Finally, the user may wish to move the content to another storagemedium. For example, the user may desire to transfer the content to aportable device for enjoyment at another location. The rules would alsocover this situation.

In order to enforce such rules, various tools may be used. In onevariant, the content may be flagged for different types of usage orcopying. Flagging may include actions such as altering the metadata ofthe content to reflect the rules. Alternatively, data files containingsets of preferences or other indicators may be associated with thecontent. The content presentation may also be limited to specificdevices that will not allow unauthorized use or copying. For example,playback may be limited to devices authorized directly by anauthorization program running on the content management apparatus 206.Alternatively, with secure presentation standards (e.g. HDCP and/ordigital rights management DRM tools, etc.) may be required for displayof the content.

Also, the content may be transmitted in an encrypted form (e.g., usingpublic/private key encryption, or another symmetric or asymmetricencryption technique such as AES) without also transmitting theencryption key. This will prevent consumption of the content until thekey is provided. The encryption key can then be provided at the time ofthe release or scheduled broadcast to allow for the initial presentationof the content. In addition, the key can be provided to facilitateauthorized copying or device transfers. Co-owned and co-pending U.S.patent applications Ser. No. 10/894,884 and Ser. No. 11/378,129 each ofwhich previously being incorporated by reference herein, discussexemplary techniques for such secure/authorized copying or devicetransfers. Alternatively, it will be recognized by those of ordinaryskill that other approaches and systems may be used.

To further present content providers with tools for the management ofpre-cached HpoV content, security measures may be implemented as part ofthe pre-caching process. In some embodiments, the content is pre-cachedin an incomplete or substantially incomplete form. For example, in onevariant, a selected portion (e.g., every other bit, every third bit,contiguous blocks of n bits out of m total bits, etc.) of a particulardigitally encoded content element may be locally stored on a CPE priorto an “unlock” date for that content (e.g., a release date). Thus, untilthe complementary (e.g., non-present) set of bits are provided, the datais rendered unusable. However, the (present) portion of the data maystill be pre-cached, and the network usage (load) at the unlock date (orsometime after) is none-the-less reduced, in that the network need onlydeliver the remaining (non-present portion to the CPE, versus the entirecontent element.

In other variants, a byte-wise (rather than bit-wise) division may beused.

Still further, a redundancy analysis may be used to identify datacritical to playback/execution. In one such implementation, only theminimum data needed to frustrate or sufficiently degradeplayback/execution is intentionally not pre-cached.

In yet other embodiments, the content may be analyzed for optimalwithholding. For example, many video encoding schemes rely onindependent frames and (partially-) dependent frames. For the purposesof decoding video, dependent frames are reliant on information from theindependent frames to be fully rendered. The dependent frames may merelycontain change or “vector” information detailing their differences froma previous or successive frame. The dependent frames may be unusablewithout the “reference” independent frames. In some implementations(e.g., H.264), the frames are called I-frames (independent), P-frames(predictive, uni-directionally dependent), and B-frames(bi-directionally dependent). Thus, some or all independent and/orpartially-dependent frames may be withheld to prevent (or substantiallyreduce) the quality of unauthorized playback. To that end, the qualitymay be purposely reduced to a “grainy” resolution for purposes ofpreview or enticing the user to view it; e.g., the user is providedaccess to all or a portion of the content in reduced resolution, suchthat it can be rendered and viewed on their screen, but in order toobtain the full (high-resolution) playback, the user must takeadditional action (e.g., affirmatively select the content element,upgrade their subscription, pay a fee, etc.). This feature also providesa low-bandwidth and storage size preview function; i.e., various contentelements can be cached at some fraction of the full-resolution size, andthe user can browse them, viewing low-resolution versions, and uponselection of one, the remaining (complementary) portion of data can bedownloaded and rendered with the existing portion as a whole.

Consistent with the present invention, any or all of the aforementionedsecurity measures (encryption, flagging, DRM, or incompleteprepositioning) may be applied in concert with one another.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the content and rules will then be stored perstep 516. Also, at step 518, the CPE may pre-process the content tofacilitate viewing on the authorized device or devices, such as forexample decrypting and decoding the content, transcoding it (for adifferent indigenous codec for example), upconverting it to HD ordownconverting it to SD from HD if required, etc. This will ensure thatat the authorized/desired time of viewing the user will be able to enjoya high-performance presentation without latency due to transmission orprocessing.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 600 foridentifying HpoV content in a network in accordance with the presentinvention.

At step 602, new content is identified, and the information related tothe classification of the content is read (step 604).

Per step 606, the content is evaluated to determine whether it is“match” for a user request. As used herein, the term match includeswithout limitation evaluation against one or more criteria to determinesuitability, scoring or ranking, fuzzy logic analysis (e.g., “good”,“fair”, “poor”), and so forth. The user request may have been madeindividually for the specific content, or as part of a queue of contentthat the user plans to view in the near future. In addition, the requestcould also be made as part of a “subscription” to serial content. Forexample a user may request to pre-cache every episode of a season of atelevision program.

If the content does not match a specific request from a user, thecontent classification information can be compared to the subscriberhistory per step 608. Often, from the subject matter of the content, alist of related content can be generated. A subscriber that haspreviously consumed content related to the new content may likely desirethe content in question. Moreover, because of the serial nature of manyprograms it may be simple to predict a subscriber's habits. For example,a subscriber that has watched every previous episode of a specifictelevision program will likely watch the newest episode even if thatepisode was not specifically requested.

At step 610, if the new content yields neither a request nor historymatch it may be evaluated for a demographic match to the subscriber.Often behavior can be predicted based on the demographic details of asubscriber household. Thus, a CPE with associated demographicinformation can be compared to demographic information contained withinthe classification information associated with the new content. Forexample details such as age, household income, and education level canbe used to predict the likelihood of interest for given content.

Content may be aggregated by the MSO and provided to the subscriber.However, in some embodiments, content may be sourced from over-the-top(OTT) providers (providers that distribute content over the MSO'snetwork, but do so independently (or substantially independently) of theMSO (e.g. Hulu®, Facebook®, NetFlix®, or YouTube®). These contentproviders may have pre-identified HpoV content, which they wish todeliver to particular subscribers (or those having prescribeddemographics/psychographics) on the MSO's network. Consistent with thepresent invention, the OTT provider may coordinate with the MSO topre-position their HpoV OTT-content on the user's CPE, such as e.g., byproviding the MSO with a correlation matrix specifying content versusparticular users (or user demographic/pyschographic parameters).

In other embodiments, the MSO may obtain the permission of thesubscriber or the OTT provider (or in some cases a third partyinformation aggregator) to “mine” request lists, queues, user history,preferences, or recommendation lists maintained by the OTT provider.These lists may serve as sources of information on user likes anddislikes, and may be used to increase the accuracy and/or amount ofcontent able to be recommended for a user.

If a match is found in any of the above steps the content will beidentified as HpoV content. However, if match is not found the contentwill be deemed not HpoV and will not be pre-cached. Although, only threeevaluation steps have been noted, this is not meant to limit the scopeby which the content can be evaluated. One can envision myriad othermethods of evaluating new content. Most notably, evaluation based onuser defined preferences for subject matter could be used as grounds foridentifying HpoV content. However, the MSO may want to limit the numberof criteria used at any one time so as to not generate too many falsepositives resulting in wasted bandwidth usage for content not ofinterest to the user. Furthermore, to mitigate the occurrence of falsepositives the MSO may require a match in more than one criterion. Thus,the chances of undue network usage will reduced given the chances ofmore than one match will be lower than a single match, and the resultswill be more likely to be of interest to the user.

It can also be envisioned that a user may initiate the presentation ofHpoV content prior to the completion of a scheduled trickle download. Inthis case, the transmission rate associated with the trickle downloadmay be increased (e.g. doubled or tripled) to ensure that the user doesnot reach the end of the portion of the content that has beentransmitted and have to wait for the trickle download to complete. Insome embodiments, the CPE 106 or content management device prevents theuser from initiation of viewership until the content download iscomplete or sufficiently complete that the content can be presentedwithout interruption with or without increasing the transfer rate.

Additionally, in some embodiments the decision whether or not toincrease the transmission rate is controlled by the content managementapparatus 206. The content management apparatus is further configured tobase the decision on current or predicted network resource demands. Asdiscussed previously, this process may be in concert with provisioningsuggestions from a smart CPE 106 in some embodiments, and in others thedecision processes is entirely under the purview of the contentmanagement apparatus 206.

Further, in some embodiments the pre-caching of HpoV content ispresented to the user as a premium or enhanced service. Locally stored(as a result of a previous trickle download, etc.) HpoV content may behighlighted in order to inform the user that the particular content isalready prepared for viewership. Furthermore, this technique mayshowcase the HpoV identification engine for the user (e.g. the user mayappreciate the suggestions of the HpoV identification engine).Additionally, the locally stored content may be available during time ofhigh network usage or other times when the content would not normally beavailable to a given user (depending on the user's service level orcurrent network connectivity). Thus, the system may increase userexperience by presenting a user with a library of HpoV content (i.e.content the user is likely to want to consume) with constant or nearconstant availability.

Alternatively, in other embodiments the pre-caching of HpoV is presentedsimply as an opt-in embodiment, allowing the MSO (or other contentmanagement entity) to collect information related to the user with theintent of identifying HpoV content. The HpoV content identificationsystem is presented in a form transparent to the user (i.e. the user isnotified of HpoV content being pre-caching). However, in other opt-inembodiments that HpoV content identification system may be opaque, andthe user is only aware of increases in performance associated with HpoVcontent pre-caching. Thereby, in the opaque embodiments no extra userinterface functions would be added.

It can also be appreciated that, in such opt-in embodiments, theinformation may also be used in the identification of secondary contentof interest to the user. In some embodiments the addition of secondarycontent of interest to the user could be used to generate revenue fromadvertisers. Methods and apparatus for the identification and insertionof such secondary content as discussed in co-owned and co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/503,710 filed Jul. 15, 2009 and entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SECONDARY CONTENT INSERTION” beingincorporated herein by reference.

In addition, some embodiments may weight the likelihood of viewershipfor HpoV content. In these embodiments, methods would further comprisesteps to gauge a percentage or confidence interval associated with thelikelihood a user at a given CPE will view particular content. Then aportion of the content can be transmitted to the CPE, wherein the sizeof the portion of the content is based on the likelihood that the userviews the content. Then, if the user actually views the content, theremaining portion will be transmitted. For example, if the chance a userassociate with a given CPE will view particular content is 50%, only 40%of the content may be transmitted to the CPE in advance of viewing. Inanother instance, that likelihood may be 80% and a larger portion wouldbe transmitted in advance.

It will be recognized that while certain aspects of the invention aredescribed in terms of a specific sequence of steps of a method, thesedescriptions are only illustrative of the broader methods of theinvention, and may be modified as required by the particularapplication. Certain steps may be rendered unnecessary or optional undercertain circumstances. Additionally, certain steps or functionality maybe added to the disclosed embodiments, or the order of performance oftwo or more steps permuted. All such variations are considered to beencompassed within the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments,it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changesin the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Theforegoing description is of the best mode presently contemplated ofcarrying out the invention. This description is in no way meant to belimiting, but rather should be taken as illustrative of the generalprinciples of the invention. The scope of the invention should bedetermined with reference to the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for management and distribution ofcontent in a content delivery network, said apparatus comprising: atleast one interface configured to communicate with a plurality ofcomputerized client devices operatively coupled to said content deliverynetwork; one or more storage apparatus configured to: store a pluralityof digitally rendered content for distribution to subsets of saidplurality of computerized client devices; store data representative ofone or more rules to guide said distribution of individual ones of saidplurality digitally rendered content; and store classification datarelated to said individual ones of said plurality of said digitallyrendered content; and a processing unit in data communication with saidat least one interface and said one or more storage apparatus, saidprocessing unit comprising computerized logic configured to: based atleast in part on said classification data, identify individual ones ofsaid plurality of digitally rendered content that are high probabilityof viewership (HpoV) content for one of said subsets of said pluralityof computerized client devices; identify data representative of one ormore rules to guide said distribution of said HpoV content from amongsaid data representative of one or more rules to guide said distributionof said individual ones of said plurality of said digitally renderedcontent; cause transmission of both (i) said HpoV content and (ii) saiddata representative of one or more rules to guide distribution of saidHpoV content to said one of said subsets of said plurality ofcomputerized client devices, where said transmission to said one of saidsubsets of said plurality of computerized client devices is configuredto occur when network resource demand is below a predeterminedthreshold; and schedule, using at least the computerized logic, saidtransmission of said HpoV content and said data representative of one ormore rules to a different future time when said network resource demandis above said predetermined threshold.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein: said scheduled transmission complies with said datarepresentative of one or more rules to guide said distribution of saidHpoV content.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said scheduledtransmission comprises a trickle download.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein: said storage apparatus is further configured to store dataassociated with individuals ones of said plurality of computerizedclient devices; and said identification of said HpoV content is based atleast in part on said data associated with said individuals ones of saidplurality of computerized client devices.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said classification data includes one or more of: (i) datacomprising a description of a subject matter of said individual ones ofsaid plurality of said content, (ii) data comprising a list of othercontent related to said individual ones of said plurality of saidcontent, and (iii) data comprising demographic information related tosaid individual ones of said plurality of said content.
 6. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein said processing unit is further configured toincrease a rate of said transmission at least in part in response to adetermination that at least one user associated with at least one ofsaid subset of said plurality of computerized client devices hasinitiated a presentation of said HpoV content at a client device.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said wherein said processing unit isfurther configured to cause transmission of said one or more of saidHpoV content to a first one of said plurality of computerized clientdevices, said first computerized client device configured to operate asa peer to one or more second computerized client devices disposed at arespective different premises from said first computerized client deviceand configured to transmit said HpoV content to said one or more secondcomputerized client devices.
 8. A method of operating a content deliverynetwork, said method comprising: identifying digitally rendered contentwith a high probability of viewership; during a period of predicted lownetwork demand, providing, at a transmission rate less than thatassociated with a real-time presentation of said digitally renderedcontent, said digitally rendered content in an incomplete form andstorage rules for said digitally rendered content, said digitallyrendered content in said incomplete form rendered un-viewable withoutcombination with a remaining portion of said digitally rendered content;when a demand for network resources spikes during said provision of saiddigitally rendered content in said incomplete form: stopping provisionof said digitally rendered content; and rescheduling provision of saiddigitally rendered content in said incomplete form to a future time ofpredicted low network demand; and providing said remaining portion ofsaid digitally rendered content.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising increasing a rate of said provision of said digitallyrendered content at least in part in response to a determination that atleast one user has initiated a presentation of said digitally renderedcontent at a client device.
 10. A method of operating a content deliverynetwork to one or more client devices, the method comprising:identifying digitally rendered high probability of viewership (HpoV)content, the identifying of the digitally rendered HpoV contentcomprising correlating programming content to at least one contentconsumption characteristic of one or more users of the one or morecomputerized client devices; and scheduling a portion of the digitallyrendered HpoV content to be transmitted to the one or more computerizedclient devices during a period in which network usage is below athreshold, a size of the portion of the digitally rendered HpoV contentscheduled to be transmitted being determined based on an algorithmicevaluation of a likelihood of viewership of the digitally rendered HpoVcontent by the one or more users; wherein the transmission of thedigitally rendered HpoV content comprises transmission at a rate of datatransmission that is lower than that required to view the digitallyrendered HpoV content in real time.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe transmitting of the portion of the digitally rendered HpoV contentto the one or more computerized client devices comprises transmittingthe portion of the digitally rendered HpoV content to a wireless-enabledmobile device.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising providingdata implementing one or more rules in addition to the digitallyrendered HpoV content, the data implementing the one or more rulescomprising data implementing restrictions on at least one of: (i) accessto the digitally rendered HpoV content by the one or more computerizedclient devices, and/or (ii) copying of the digitally rendered HpoVcontent to another device.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thescheduling of the portion of the digitally rendered HpoV content to betransmitted is based at least in part on a network resource demandfalling below the threshold.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein thetransmitting of the portion of the digitally rendered HpoV contentcomprises transmitting in an incomplete form so as to cause at least oneof: (i) frustration of user access or viewing of the digitally renderedHpoV content; and/or (ii) reduced-quality previewing of the digitallyrendered HpoV content.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the at leastone content consumption characteristic of the one or more users of theone or more computerized client devices comprises one or more of:viewing history, preferences, and/or demographic information, eachcorrelated to the one or more users.
 16. The method of claim 10, whereinthe period in which network demand is below the threshold furthercomprises a specific time period that is predicted to comprise areduction in network demand relative to another time period that isoutside of the specific time period.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable apparatus comprising a storage medium having acomputer program therein, said computer program comprising a pluralityof instructions configured to, when executed by a processor apparatus ofa computerized apparatus, cause said computerized apparatus to: causeidentification of high probability of viewership (HpoV) content; andcause scheduling of transmission of said HpoV content to one or morecomputerized client devices of a content delivery network during anexpected period of off-peak network demand, said scheduled transmissioncomprising a transmission rate less than that associated with areal-time presentation of said HpoV content; responsive to at least (i)initiation of said real-time presentation of said HpoV content on atleast one of said one or more computerized client devices prior tocompletion of said scheduled transmission, and (ii) determination of achange in network demand during said real-time presentation of said HpoVcontent, cause increase of said transmission rate of said scheduledtransmission; and responsive to (i) completion of said scheduledtransmission, and (ii) a change in said network demand, cause enablementof access to said transmitted HpoV content stored on at least one ofsaid one or more computerized client devices.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable apparatus of claim 17, wherein said content deliverynetwork comprises a managed content delivery network, and said HpoVcontent comprises content aggregated by a multiple systems operator(MSO) associated with said managed content delivery network.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim 17, wherein saidHpoV content comprises over-the-top (OTT) content sourced from athird-party content source.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readableapparatus of claim 17, wherein said plurality of instructions arefurther configured to, when executed by said processor apparatus, causesaid computerized apparatus to transmit said HpoV content to at leastone digital data storage device disposed in the content deliverynetwork, and cache said transmitted HpoV content at said at least onedigital data storage device; wherein said cached HpoV content isaccessible by at least one of said one or more computerized clientdevices.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim 17,wherein said plurality of instructions are further configured to, whenexecuted by said processor apparatus, cause said computerized apparatusto determine whether said HpoV content is available for transmission;wherein said determination of whether said HpoV content is available fortransmission comprises an evaluation of data associated with one or moreof (i) an eligibility of said at least one of said one or morecomputerized client devices and (ii) a possible time for saidtransmission.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein said identification of HpoV content comprises usage ofclassification data, said classification data comprising one or more of:data indicative of a frequency of consumption of said HpoV content; anddata indicative of a request for said HpoV content from said at leastone of said one or more computerized client devices.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim 17, wherein saididentification of HpoV content comprises usage of classification data,said classification data comprising one or more of: data indicative of ademographic relationship to or aspect of said HpoV content; and dataindicative of a history of consumption corresponding to subject matterof said HpoV content.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable apparatusof claim 17, wherein said plurality of instructions are furtherconfigured to, when executed by said processor apparatus, cause saidcomputerized apparatus to determine said expected period of off-peaknetwork demand via collection and organization of data related to usagestatistics of said content delivery network, and production of datadetailing expected network usage.
 25. The non-transitorycomputer-readable apparatus of claim 17, wherein said identification ofHpoV content comprises usage of classification data associated with oneor more computerized client devices associated with said HpoV content.26. The non-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim 17, whereinsaid expected period of off-peak demand comprises a specific period in a24-hour day which is predicted to have off-peak demand.
 27. Thenon-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim 17, wherein saidscheduling of transmission is based at least in part on receipt of databy the computerized apparatus indicating an occurrence of an event, saidevent comprising a network resource demand falling below a predeterminedthreshold.
 28. The non-transitory computer-readable apparatus of claim17, wherein said HpoV content is transmitted in an incomplete form so asto cause at least one of: (i) prevention of user viewing, and (ii)reduced quality previewing.
 29. The non-transitory computer-readableapparatus of claim 17, wherein availability of said stored HpoV contentto a user of said at least one of said one or more computerized clientdevices is based on at least one of: (i) a service level of said userand (ii) a current network resource demand.